Unseen poetry - love through the ages Flashcards
AO5 - Plato
‘Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history’
AO5 - Edna Longley
‘Poetry is often very critical of the culture from which it emerges’
‘Poetry can bring out areas of denial and repression’
Context of the Renaissance period
French for ‘rebirth’, the Renaissance sought to revive the arts through increased diversity and an interest in Roman and Greek mythology
The Shakespearian sonnet was widely used as Shakespeare gained popularity
The Petrarchan Sonnet was founded in the 14th centaury
Machiavelli
Driven by humanism - a philosophy that emphasised the ability for humans to act, rather than the reliance on the will of God. Humanism first emerged in Florence, Italy
Political tensions between Catholics and Protestants - many Puritan groups sought to regulate forms of worship
New technology, such as the invention of the printing press widened literature’s audience. The English language became international and began to celebrate cultural strands
What is the time span of the Renaissance period?
1500s to 1650s
Features of Renaissance poetry
Promotion of humanity
A focus on irony and satire
New worlds
Rebirth and discovery
Emphasisation of order
‘hero narratives’
Greek/Roman ideals
Poets often used repetition to emphasise their themes
Common poetry forms of the Renaissance period
Sonnet (Petrarch and Shakespearian)
Lyric
Elegy
What is the time span of the Medieval period?
1400 to 1500
Context of the Medieval period
Poetry changed dramatically throughout England and Western Europe
Written for performance and storytelling, often with a regular cadence so it can be passed through audience members and throughout villages
Feudalism, religion and chivalry were great influences of Medieval literature
Features of Medieval poetry
Doomed lovers
Heroes and heroines
Myths
Monsters
Fighting for love
Imagination
Faith and religion
Medieval folklore
Chivalry and courtly love
Common forms of Medieval poetry
Epic
Lyric
Ballad
What was the time span of the Neoclassical period?
1700s to 1840s
Context of the Neoclassical period
Marked a return to the classic Roman and Greek conventions and ideologies of poetry
An Era of Enlightenment which emphasised logic and reason - a reaction against the romantic Renaissance style of poetry, an outcome of intellect rather than imagination
Neoclassical poets were all highly educated in various fields of studies, particularly on religious studies
Features of Neoclassical poetry
Logic and reason
Rationalism
Realism
Scholarly allusions
Sparse language
Use of allusions
Strict meter and rhyme
Heroic couplet – a pair or rhyming iambic pentameters
General public sphere
Strict meter and rhyme
Common forms of Neoclassical poetry
Fables
Satire and parody
What is the time span of Metaphysical poetry?
1600 to 1690
Features of Metaphysical poetry
Paradoxical imagery
Religious
Irony
Love and lust
Morality
Intelligent and witty
Strange imagery
Complicated thought
Philosophical and spiritual subjects
Subtle argument
Analogies
Colloquial dictation
Less strict meter
Metaphysical conceit (extended metaphors)
Common forms of Metaphysical poetry
The lyric
Context of Metaphysical poetry
The term was coined by the poet and critic Samuel Johnson who described a group of English lyric poets of the 17th century whose work was characterised by the use of conceit, guess and speculation about topics such as love and religion.
John Donne was one of the most influential metaphysical poets. His relationship with spirituality is at the centre of most his work and the psychological analysis and sexual realism of his work marked a dramatic departure from traditional verse. His early work was released in an era of religious oppression. His Holy Sonnets contain some of Donne’s most enduring poems was released shortly after his wife died in childbirth. Donne intensely grapples with concepts of divinity and morality.
Context of the Romantic period
Many scholars say the Romantic period began with the publication of ‘Lyrical Ballads’ by William Wordsworth and Samuel Coleridge in 1798
Instead of politics the Romantics turned to nature for self-fulfilment. Embracing the imagination and feeling, often through transcendental features. The movement counteracted the previously logical and rationalised Neoclassicism
Big focus on individualism and work often evaluated the backlash of industrialisation
An artistic movement
Common Romantic forms
The sonnet
Odes
Lyrical Ballads
Time span of the Romantic period
1780s to 1830s
Features of Romantic poetry
Celebration of nature
Radical idea of individual freedom and spirituality
Celebration of isolation and melancholy
Pathetic fallacy
Idealisation of women
Interest in the common man
Nature vs industry and civilisation
An influence of medieval poetry
Irrationality
Context of the Aestheticism and Decadent movement
Late victorian
Encouragement of experimentation
Authors held the view that art opposes “natural” forms of mortality. Decadent literature challenged the dominance of scientific thinking. This era shocked the Victorian establishment by challenging traditional values, foregrounding sensuality and promoting artistic, sexual and political experimentation.
Many Victorians passionately believed that literature and art played an ethical role in society, providing a guide to moral and correct behavior. However, the late Victorian Period challenged this.
‘Art for art’s sake’ coined by a French philospher in 1817
Time span of the Aestheticism and Decadent movement
1880s to 1900
Features of Aestheticism and Decadent poetry
Artificiality
Decay
Sexual liberality
‘Art for art’s sake’
Aesthetic hedonism over logic
Context of the Pre-Raphaelites
Early Victorian
Society was tainted with social and moral speculations, particularly on religion and science
Contemporary issues include social, economic, religious and intellectual issues surrounding the Industrial Revolution, growing class tensions, the early feminist movement, pressures towards political and social reform and the impact of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution on philosophy and religion
Originated in painting with the “Pre-Raphaelites Brotherhood” and later appeared in poetry
The aim of this group was to return p
ainting to a style of truthfulness, simplicity and religious devotion. The Pre-Raphaelites kept themselves apart from the conflict between faith and materialism and from the growing social problems of Victoria life and society.
In another matter, the Pre-Raphaelite poets seem to follow their romantic predecessors. Like them, they, too, suffer from a hand with death. A tender note of melancholy characterizes their romantic aspiration and adds to their poetic appeal
Time span of Pre-Raphaelite poetry
1850s to 1860s
Common forms of early Victorian poetry
Dramatic monologue
Ballad
Lyric
Features of Early Victorian poetry
Dramatic monologue
Conflict between religion and science
Use of sensory elements
Pessimism (a tendency to see the worst aspect of things or believe that the worst will happen)
An interest in Medieval Fables and legends
Realism
Sentimentality
Sense of responsibility
Love – late Romantic tendencies (gender roles and sexual morality)
Time span of Modern poetry
1900s to 1945
Features of Modern poetry
Individualism (the individual is more interesting than society)
Symbolism
Experimentalism (breaking free of old forms and techniques, challenging the literary conventions of the entire post Romantic era)
Free verse
Stream of consciousness
Absurdity
Context of the Modern period
The destruction of two World Wars had a great impact on modernist writers. Several famous English Poets died or were injured in WW1. Simultaneously, global capitalism was changing and challenging society at every level. For many writers the world was becoming increasingly absurd every day and the rush of daily life was overpowering. The violence of WW2 was yet more evidence that humanity had lost its way. Modernist authors depicted this absurdity in their work.
Time span of Postmodern poetry
1945 onwards
Features of Postmodern poetry
Metanarattive
Radicalism
Skepticism
Realism
Relativism
Fragmentation
Intertextuality
Free verse
What is a ballad?
A narrative set to music with short and pace stanzas often of a sentimental or romantic theme
Derived from medieval French
Traditionally lyrical as it was passed through generations orally
What is a lyric?
Expresses personal emotion
Often short
Typically written in the first person
Traditionally musical so expect a regular meter
What is an ode?
A form of the lyric poem dedicated to someone or something
The sonnet
14 lines, typically about love though not necessarily romantic
Shakespearian/English - 14 lines, 3 stanzas, final rhyming couplet. A variation of the traditional Italian sonnet
Petrarchan/Italian - 14 lines consisting of an octave and a sestet following ABBA ABBA rhyme scheme. Named after the Italian poet Petrarca.
What is an elegy?
A poem that reflects upon loss, death or some other solemn subject
An ancient Greek metrical form. Elegy comes from the Greek ‘elegos’ meaning ‘lament’
What is the difference between blank verse and free verse?
Both have no set rhyme scheme
Though blank verse tends to have a metrical rhythm, usually iambic pentameter
Free verse transgresses the limitations of verse poetry
What is a dramatic monologue?
A silent listener, theatrical quality. Solitary speaker. No dialogue. Poet takes on a persona
Cavalier poetry
Royalist cause
Focused political nature
‘carpe diem’ - seize the day
Classical references
1630s-1650s
Charles I restoration
Loyalty to
Odes lyrics
Richard Lovelace
Oscar Wilde
Poetry is derived from ‘genuine feeling’
